When Allied Together
by Michael7123
Summary: At the end of volume 3, team RWBY has scattered apart. Weiss was taken by her father, Blake ran away, and Yang has a broken body and spirit. The young leader Ruby Rose now sets out to Haven to try and stop the forces that caused Beacon to fall. While her original team is broken, she travels with what remains of Team JNPR. Starts near the end of volume 3 of RWBY. A Team RNJR fic.
1. Chapter 1: A Smaller Soul

**This story Starts during Salem's monologue at the end of Volume 3, Chapter 12, where Ruby visits Summer's grave before setting out to Haven with Jaune, Ren, and Nora, and will continue after that point.**

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 **Ruby Rose:**

A girl in a black dress with a red hood knelt down and brushed the snow that had accumulated over a slab of marble overlooking the cliff side. As the snow was brushed away, the engraving of a rose became clear in the sunlight, followed by a name carved in elegant cursive.

 _Summer Rose_

As the last of the snow was brushed off of the slab of stone, another engraving became clear. A single line from a poem:

 _"Thus Kindly I Scatter"_

As she stood back up and took a few steps back from the gravestone, Ruby Rose remembered reading the poem that line was from long ago, back when she was a little girl. She hadn't even understood what all of the words meant at the time, but she had understood enough to feel the sorrow pouring out of whoever had written it. She had made it a point to read it again before she had set out with team JNPR... or what remained of them, anyways. _Reading it certainly put me in the mood for what I'm going to say now, if nothing else._ Going over the poem again hadn't exactly been pleasant.

Ruby remembered the stories Yang and Summer had read to her when she was little. Stories where heroes went off and saved the world from evil villains and monsters. She had listened to more stories than she could count, absorbing them like a sponge.

The poem on her mother's grave wasn't about that type of hero.

In that tale, the hero was alone. Either her allies had either abandoned her or already fallen. In that tale, the hero gave up. Even when she was a little girl, she had understood that. It had always bothered her why her mother, the eternally kind, cheerful, warmhearted, optimistic Summer Rose, would want a line from such a depressing poem on her grave. She had never understood why Summer hadn't come back from that mission so many years ago.

She was a hero, wasn't she?

"I... I think I get it now Mom." Ruby finally said softly, noticing now that her throat was somewhat sore. She hadn't been crying lately, and she wasn't crying now. But her throat felt like she had been all the same. "In all those stories you read me... the heroes won. We won. We slayed the dragon, defeated the witch, stopped the thieves, locked up the murderer. Even if the best of us died to make sure it happened, it always did. We never failed."

"The real world isn't as simple as that. We don't always win... you didn't win." Ruby stared at the vague and hazy reflection of her face on the wet marble of her mother's tomb. The last time she had been here was three months ago, right before the Vytal festival tournament had begun. She remembered how she had felt them, colorful and bright as the trees during Fall.

But Fall always leads leads to Winter. And with Winter, comes decay. Ruby looked away from her mother's grave and observed the stark and desolate winter landscape that stretched out below her, filled only with black trees and white snow. There wasn't even a sound to be heard beyond her own voice, and the occasional mild gust of wind.

But, as tragic as the state of the landscape was, it made things much clearer. It was simpler now. Black and White. The clarity was useful.

"I don't know what your mission was for. I might never know... I don't think people like to talk about the heroes that failed... you know that you were a hero, right mom?" Ruby asked softly, not wanting to break the silence around her. "Qrow says you were special... that you were destined to be the best of the best of heroes, and so am I... all because we have silver eyes."

"But having silver eyes doesn't make me a hero. They didn't make you a hero. Nor did losing make you any less of one. Even though we knew that the heroes in the books would always win, the heroes themselves didn't. They faced down the worst the world had to offer... they knew they could die... you knew you could die... I know... I... might die..." Ruby managed to get out with some difficulty. She had known it for months now... but she had never said it until this point. " If that wasn't a risk, then what we did wouldn't be special, would it? Those stories wouldn't be worth talking about. They wouldn't give us any hope. They wouldn't be about heroes at all. "

"But there's more to it than that... a lot's happened in the past few months. A woman... Cinder Fall... she wound up destroying Beacon and damaging a lot of Vale. So many people were hurt... killed...My team..." Ruby paused for a moment as she considered how to put what she would say next before recalling a line from the poem on her mother's grave.

" _All her lovely companions, are faded and gone._ Weiss's father took her away from Vale. I don't know if she's continuing her training as a huntress in Atlas now, or if her father wants to keep her out of all this. I hope not. She's changed so much from the person who I first met when I arrived at Beacon. She finally got to be one of the heroes for a while. I hope her father doesn't take that from her. I hope she doesn't let her father take that from her."

"Blake left our team on her own. None of us have seen her since the night Sun, one of our friends from Mistral who was visiting for the tournament, saw her go. With the CTT down, we haven't been able to contact her. That's why I don't know what Wiess is doing now either... I just wish I could help her. If only I knew why she ran away like that... I hope I can see her again one day."

"And Yang.." Ruby's eyes widened and she covered up her mouth. _I haven't told you about her yet..._ she realized. Ruby struggled to get the next words out of her mouth. "Some guy... some guy attacked Blake. He was going to kill her... Yang tried to help, but that... man... he cut off her arm. After everything that's happened... I think she's like that hero from the poem. She's given up. I did everything I could to try and help her... but nothing helped. I know that she... she was there for me after you left. I wish I could do the same thing for her now. She deserves that. At least she has dad watching over her. He'd do anything to make her better. I know that. "

Ruby recalled the letter she had left for her dad before continuing.

 _Dad,_

 _I'm sorry I have to leave like this. I wish I could stay here with you and Yang more than anything in the world. But... you, mom, and uncle Qrow all raised me to help others. I don't know exactly what I did to that dragon... but I know that I can use it to help make things right again.._

 _I'll be back as soon as I can. I promise._

 _Ruby._

"Right after I woke up... after I discovered that I was special... Yang told me that "Sometimes bad things just happen, Ruby." She was right... but that's why we became huntresses, isn't it? To make them happen less. To help people get through them."

"I'm with some other friends I made at Beacon, Jaune, Nora, and Ren. They had another member of their team... Pyrrha Nikos. She tried to stop Cinder from taking over Beacon... but she wasn't powerful enough to stop her... she's gone now. I saw it happen, and that's how I discovered the powers I have. The powers you passed on to me. And in the end, I stopped what was happening, or at least put it off. I don't know what happened to Cinder... but the Dragon that attacked Beacon is frozen. It's not hurting anyone else for now. Her sacrifice is why I'm still here. Why all four of us are still here. "

"Her friends miss her terribly, and I do too. But we all know that she would want us to finish fighting for what she died for. That's why we're heading out to Haven. Qrow told me that's the best lead we have about Cinder and her allies... so that's where the four of us are going next. We don't know if we'll win... but it's not about winning in the end. It's not about being able to beat the bad guys, although don't get me wrong that certainly helps. I want to win. It's... it's..."

Ruby was silent for a while longer as she wondered what to say next. _I don't have much time. They'll be back soon._ "I guess.. I. guess being a hero is about fighting for what's right. In the end, you aren't more or less of a hero because you won or lost. You were a hero because you always tried to do what was right, even though you knew that it could get you hurt. Even when it did more than hurt you."

Ruby closed her eyes as she continued. "I'm sorry mom. For the longest time, I never understood why you had to leave me and Yang and Dad and Qrow. Why you never came back from that mission. At the worst of times, I blamed you for leaving, somehow thinking you were responsible for what happened. I will always be sorry for that. But I get it now. You were a huntress. You were a hero, just like... no, better than all the heroes in the books."

"It really is like they say." Ruby says with an air of finality in her voice. "Like mother, like daughter."

Ruby heard the wind blow, and the cold air washed over her face.

"I love you Mom. I promise, I'll make you proud."

The sound of footsteps in the snow came from behind her, and Ruby turned around to face her new team. Ren, Jaune, and Nora stood side by side, waiting for their leader to return to them.

 _I shouldn't keep them waiting. We've waited long enough to start this._

Ruby walked over towards her team, and the four heroes set out on their journey together.

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 **AN: I haven't written fanfiction in a long time, so I'm sorry if this is a bit rusty. I'm always looking for feedback, so I'd really appreciate it if you could leave a review. A large reason I'm writing this is to improve my skills as a writer overall, and I can't do that unless I get some second opinions.**

 **I plan on updating this story at least once every two weeks, but that could very easily change based on my schedule. Thank you for taking the time to read this!**


	2. Chapter 2: Send Your Guardian

**Nora Valkyrie:**

The sound of their footprints on the road had been the only sound for about an hour now, the monotonous rhythm emerging from the crunched dirt only occasionally mixed with the noise from the gentle winter winds. The only movement all around them came from the small drifts of snow that glistened in the light from a cloudless daytime sky whenever they were stirred by the wind. Beyond that, she could hardly even tell that anything on this island was alive. The trees were barren and black as shadows, the snow was as white as the currently absent clouds, and only the occasional glimpse of green grass was visible through the snow blanketing the ground.

A girl wearing a pink dress walked down the road carrying a large hammer over her shoulder, lead by a child and lost in her thoughts. The brown dirt that made up the path that wound ahead of them towards the forest was nearly the only mark of color on the landscape.

 _It's just like how it was on the way over here. This isn't good._ Nora thought to herself. Ren had been quiet- even for Ren- ever since they had left Vale to get Ruby. And Jaune had been even worse off.

Her leader- no. Ruby was her leader now. Jaune had insisted on that. _My friend then._ Her friend, normally such an endearing, kind, spirited, awkward dork, had become almost unrecognizable to the boisterous girl. He never made any jokes, never raised his voice, and never smiled any more.

 _Would you act any differently from him?_ Nora's mind accused her. _What would you do if Ren had been in Pyrrha's place? No. Don't think about that. There's no need to think about that because that's not going to happen. Nope. Not at all. Definitely not. Not ever. Right?_

Nora shook her head, as if that would help dislodge the thought her mind. All of this silence only allowed her mind to generate more noise than she could ever possibly want. She preferred it when the world around her was loud. Loud was fun. Loud was happy. Loud meant alive. But now, the silence allowed everyone to get wrapped up in their own thoughts, none of which could possibly be good. _This has to stop. Something needs to make this stop. Pyrrha would want us going to stop the people who destroyed Beacon, but not like this. It's been three months. This is serious, but they can't keep on going like this!_

Nora began to look at her teammates, who were more or less walking by her side. All of her teammates had a look of determination on their faces. _Good. We need that._ But Nora looked just a little more closely, and could see that there was a bit more to them then that.

They were scared. They were all trying to hide it, but Nora Valkyrie had always been good at reading people.

Besides, it was easier for her to understand people who were sharing the exact same emotion as she was. _I'm scared. How can I not be? We're in the middle of nowhere, traveling in winter, taking up a mission to save the world, going up against things that brought down a hunter academy. My home is a Dragon's nest swarming with Grimm. I've lost my home again. I have no home left to go to._

Nora stopped in her tracks for a moment at that realization. _You've dealt with this before. Think of something else._ _Anything else._ As if to grant her wish, Nora finally caught some sort of movement in the corner of her eye. As she turned around, she managed to glimpse a crow as it was soaring down from the sky and heading towards their group.

"Awww, silly bird. You should be much farther south this time of year. " Nora said in her normal, care-free tone as she watched the bird fly into the trees ahead of them.

"Nora, are you okay?" A high pitched voice asked. Nora looked back down and saw Ruby, along with the rest of her teammates, had stopped walking and had turned around to face her.

 _No._ "Me? Of course I'm fine!" Nora addressed Ruby as she forced a smile onto her face. She continued to talk as she headed back towards the group, "That silly bird might not be though. It's so cold up here. How do you manage it Ruby? You've lived here almost all your life, maybe you could teach me a thing or two or ten? Please?"

Ruby smiled slightly as they continued to walk. "Well... I guess I kinda just got used to it. I mean, I don't think it's that cold right now, and it's not like it's cold here all year." Nora walked beside Ruby, while Ren and Jaune took the lead. Her smile wasn't anything special, and it wasn't quite as wide and vibrant as it had been before everything bad had happened, but it was a smile nevertheless. _It's a start._

The bird cawed as Nora responded to her leader. _"_ Not cold? I'm freezing... you know, I've heard that keeping your belly full keeps away the cold. Maybe if _someone_ had been a little less stingy when he made our breakfast I wouldn't be so cold right now, _Ren._ "

Her oldest friend turned his head around to address her as he kept walking, "I am not to blame for your excessive appetite. All three of us received exactly the same amount of food, and I ensured that it was enough for all of us to travel as far as we planned to for the day."

"You don't understand my appetite because it seems like you don't even have one half the time." Nora said, slipping into her familiar pattern of banter with Ren. _Now for Jaune._ "Jaune, back me up here. Have you ever seen Ren eat anything more than he absolutely had to?"

The silence began to return as the four of them continued to walk, broken only by the cawing of a bird behind them. "Jaaaune." Nora called out to her friend, drawing out his name in an effort to gain his attention.

"Huh?" The former leader turned around to look at Nora, slowing his pace slightly. "What is it?"

"Back me up. Ren eats so little, it's surprising that he doesn't just fly away in the gentlest breeze, right?"

Jaune merely shrugged as he turned back around and continued walking. "I don't know. I guess so."

The bird cawed once more as the silence began to creep in again. The four of them had been under the open sky up until this point. Shortly up ahead the forest became much denser, and the color of the snow morphed from brilliant white to dusty gray under the shadows of the trees.

 _This isn't working. Quick, think of something else._ "Oh, I almost forgot! Jaune, hold still!" Nora ran up to Jaune and opened up his backpack while setting Magnhild's hammer end on the ground next to her, freeing up both of her hands to rummage through her teammate's backpack.

"Nora, what are you doing?" Jaune asked in his now standard apathetic voice. Nevertheless, he obliged Nora's request by stopping right before the shadows from the trees started to blanket the snow.

"We've been mop- ", _No, don't draw attention to it. Not now._ "I mean, it's been sooooooooo long since we got Ruby her present that we've all forgotten all about it!"

"Oh, a present?"Ruby reacted with excitement. "What is it? Let me see!" Nora could hear the young girl start to approach her.

 _Where is it?_ Nora dug through Jaune's backpack as she replied to Ruby. "Hold on a moment. It's gotta be in here somewhe-" Nora was cut off as she stumbled across the last thing she wanted to see. In the midst of all Jaune's junk, Nora caught sight of a shining piece of bronze metal. Nora didn't even have to see all of it to know what it was: it was Pyrrha's circlet. She remembered Ruby's uncle had been carrying it after rescuing Ruby, but she had never know Jaune still had it. _Oh Jaune..._

"Nora? What's wrong?" Nora heard the voice of her team leader next to her.

Nora forced on the biggest smile she could manage onto her face. "Oh, nothing other than Jaune's laundry! It looks like it belongs in a dumpster!", she said hastily as she pushed Pyrrha's circlet down to the bottom of Jaune's bag, finally reaching Ruby's present in the process.

"Now, behold: An ancient relic from bygone days!" With her grandiose announcement, Nora lifted up the Wireless Handheld Short Signal Range Radio up to Ruby. It was really nothing special looking, just a dark grey brick shaped box with dark grey antenna, some buttons, a dial, and a speaker. But it was enough to satisfy Ruby.

"Oh! Is that a WHSSPR device?" Ruby said as her eyes widened in happiness. Nora closed up her friend's backpack as Ruby continued, "I thought they stopped making these after the great war."

"They did, for the most part." Ren chimed in as the group continued walking onward. "When the CTT was created, the WSSPR units began to fall out of production in favor of Scrolls, and radio technology was reserved for household devices for intra-kingdom communication, such as what we used to contact you in your home Ruby. However, some devices were created in the event something were to happen to the CTT Network."

Picking up Magnhild, Nora and her companions began walking into the forest, out of the light and into the shadow. As Nora finally reached the cover of the tree branches the crow flew overhead and perched itself up on a branch suspended over the path in the forest. _It's almost like that bird is following us._

 _Nah, that'd be silly. It's just a dusty old_ crow. The crow cawed once more, and almost seemed to gesture it's head in the direction they came from. Nora glanced behind her, and what she saw nearly made her heart stop. Off in the distance, an alpha beowolf was standing on the dirt road that they had been traveling on. It was on all fours, sniffing the ground, trying to pick up the sent of something.

Nora was about to open her mouth to warn her teammates of the danger when she hesitated. _Ruby said that this island wasn't home to that many advanced Grimm types. If they find out about this, that will just make them sadder._

Nora knew that Ruby, Jaune, and Ren wouldn't think twice before deciding to bear the weight of the world on their shoulders before asking a friend to help them. None of them wanted to burden the people they cared about.

 _After all, it's not like I'm any different._

Nora waited for several minutes until they had gone farther down the road and until the path had begun to twist and turn. The clearing, along with the beowolf, was out of sight, blocked almost completely by the scattered trees. "You guys keep going. I'm just going to go and answer the call of nature. I'll be back with you guys in a few minutes. While I'm gone, Ren, why don't you show Ruby how the WHSSPR works. Oh, and how I won that pancake eating contest 10 years ago!" Before anyone had a chance to object, Nora was off.

Nora jogged for about a minute, now ensuring that her own group was out of sight, and the clearing was once again visible. Setting down her backpack, Nora began to transform Magnhild into it's grenade launcher form before stopping herself. _They'll hear the grenades and try to help. That'll just make them worry._ Canceling the transformation, Nora griped her hammer with two hands and began to walk towards the clearing.

The alpha had gotten farther down the road, still checking for scents but no longer veering off the dirt path that the four of them had just traveled down. As the beowolf slowly approached, Nora stood steadfast at the start of the forest.

 _I never get why people are scared of fighting these things._

Magnhild in hand, Nora began to run down the road at a slow pace, moving faster and faster as she ran.

 _Everything that happens when we don't fight them is much_ scarier.

The monster had noticed her now. While it had merely lifted it's ears in her direction when she had first started running, it now facing her as it entered into a charge of it's own. "Come to Nora, foul beast!" Nora said as loudly as she dared to, excitement filling her voice. She had faced many grimm before, and had taken out ones bigger than this with her team. One alpha wouldn't be an issue.

The bruiser and the beowolf charged each other down the road in the open clearing. As Nora saw the beast begin to swing it's claw towards her face, Nora ducked down and entered a foot first slide. While the grimm's claw swung right over her head and Nora was sliding on the left side of both the monster's legs, she swung her hammer across it's left leg. Nora grinned at the sound of it's cracking and the monster's howl of pain as she firmly planted her hammer into the ground in front of her, using it to vault out of her slide and into a standing position.

She always loved how simple fighting fighting the Grimm was. They were the bad guys. She was the good guy who made sure they didn't go off and destroy some peaceful village, and the adrenaline rush almost felt better than Ren's amazing pancakes filling her stomach.

The beowolf got up back up, clearly wounded, but still kicking. Nora kept up her grin as she spoke to the monster before her, "Ohhhhh... you wanted me to break your _other_ leg? Let me help you with that!" She began to walk forward towards the first grimm when she noticed the sound of crunching snow behind her. She turned around just in time to notice another that alpha beowolf- larger than the first one- was now mid leap, with both of it's claws extended out towards her. Nora entered a roll to try and dive under the creature's lunge, but the beowolf was smarter than most of it's kin. As Nora dived underneath its lunge, the creature adjusted its swing to slap her rolling body and send it flying across the snow. It didn't hurt quite as badly as the paladins she had fought at Beacon, but it was far too close of a second for her to be comfortable with.

After she finished tumbling across the clearing, Nora used her war hammer as a staff to help herself get up from being prone. _I've got plenty of aura left, I'll be fine._ "I had a dream about you two guys, you know that? Ren and I turned you into rugs! That was a good dream!" She boasted with a smile on her face.

The grimm didn't seem quite as happy about that little revelation as she was. The smaller alpha began to charge her again, while the larger one began to circle around her. _One at a time. No problem_. Nora swung her hammer directly into the face of the smaller monster as it began to try and claw her, crying out, "BOOP!" as she hit it right in it's snout. The young warrior didn't have much time to boast, as the other grimm was closing in on her from the opposite direction, it's jaws wide and intent on devouring her.

Turning to face the creature head on, Nora readied her hammer to intercept the beast's maw, but again felt a rush of pain on her side as she felt the beowolf's claws tear into her aura. Once again, she was flying across the clearing, tumbling head over heals in the snow before finally sliding prone on the ground. _I have to be more careful with that one._

Nora didn't have much time to spend worrying about that, as the smaller alpha had wasted no time trying to take advantage of her wounded position. Lifting her hammer up in the air, Nora filled the beast's mouth with the blunt end of her hammer, shattering its teeth and finally cracking it's skull. The beowolf gave out one last wiper of pain as it collapsed to the ground, Nora swinging her hammer down on the monster's head one final time as she got up from the ground.

As the beowolf below her started to evaporate into mist, the larger grimm on the other side of the clearing let out a nasty howl. _You're not getting me this time._ Nora thought to herself, resolved to bring this creature to the same fate as it's smaller companion. As the beast came charging towards her, Nora once again noticed a black feathered bird in the sky, now flying down to the ground behind the creature.

To make things even stranger, the bird was flying straight for the monster. _Why on Remnant would a bird be getting closer to a grimm?_ As the monster in front of her reared up on it's hind legs for the sake of striking her down, it suddenly jerked it's head back and cried out in pain as the all-too-familiar sound of metal entering a grimm's body came from the creature. With one final moan of pain, the beast began to fall to the earth, and landed right on top of Nora.

Nora fell back to the ground, crushed under the weight of the beast. "Awww, I'm sorry! I didn't know you just wanted a hug. Silly grimm! Why didn't you just say so?" Nora said to the dying grim as she hugged its now dissolving corpse. _Huh. This thing actually would have made a really good_ _rug._ Nora thought to herself with no small amount of surprise as she stood up once the grimm had fully vanished. On the ground before her was a simple crow.

It finally clicked. Nora smiled as she addressed the bird. "You're Ruby's Uncle Qrow aren't you? I saw you turn into a bird when you flew up the tower to get Ruby!" The bird merely cocked it's head to the side. With no further response coming from the bird, Nora knelt down on the ground in front of it. "You probably don't want us to know about you. Probably something about us growing into adults who can take care of ourselves or something like that. Don't worry. I won't tell anyone." The crow on the ground simply cawed and flew off in the direction of the rest of her group.

Standing up yet again, Nora dusted the snow and grass of from herself as she walked back to the rest of her team. It took a few minutes for her to arrive back, and much to her joy, Ren and Ruby were engaged in a gripping conversation.

"How is that even possible?" Ruby asked, her voice starting to trail off as the question was left unanswered for a moment.

Without even looking at his face, Nora could tell Ren was smiling as he responded,"The world of Remnant is full of many mysteries. Nora's stomach is beyond the explanation of science or myth. It is best to consider it its own entity, unbound by the laws of nature that effect the rest of us mere mortals."

 _This is as good of a place to start as any. It will only get better from here._ Nora thought confidently as she joined in on Ruby and Ren's laughter as the four heroes continued on their path through the forest.

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 **AN: This story's first chapter got quite a lot of attention, which I'm incredibly grateful for. I'd like to thank everyone who took the time to leave a review, and especially mewtwo15026 and Texan Red Rose, both of whom were incredibly helpful in helping me figure out how to write this chapter and Nora's character.**

 **In regards to how often this story will be updated, I've decided for two weeks to be the longest I want to wait between releasing chapters, rather than the set date I release them. Sometimes this story will be updated sooner rather than later, sometimes later rather than sooner. As much as it's a pain to deal with, schoolwork is my priority over this fic.**

 **Thanks for reading!**


	3. Chapter 3: Hearts of the Weary

**Jaune Arc:**

It was cold.

The night was dark, with the tree branches above the small clearing ensuring that the light of the moon was barely visible. The branches themselves took what was left of the shattered crescent moon and fractured it even further, separating the satellite into bright alabaster fragments in the sky. The stars were largely spared this fate due to their size, ether being lucky enough to be framed by the dark branches above them, or unfortunate enough to be blotted out entirely by them.

The ground was covered in snow from the winter and shadows from the trees surrounding them. But in the middle of it all was the glowing, yellowish-orange light of a campfire, which was surrounded by four small logs that served as makeshift benches. The fire was dim now, having been started hours ago. Even still, it provided enough light to illuminate and warm the two tents on opposite sides of the fire. The snow on the ground had melted near the campfire, but was otherwise only disturbed by the remnants of footprints and other markings left by the team of two huntsmen and two huntresses that were camping there for the night.

The boy wearing blue jeans and a black hoodie underneath some white metal armor was both outside the campsite and the range of the campfire's dying light. Jaune Arc was off alone in the bleak, lifeless forest, practicing.

 _One. Two. Three. Four. Five._ The huntsman was holding his sword in both hands, reliving a sparring match in his mind's eye. The stokes of his own blade never completed, the sound of metal soaring through air was always cut short by an opponent who was wielding her own sword in both of her hands as well, mirroring and improving upon his own style of fighting. The first move of his own blocked an overhead strike from his opponent, the blade of the huntsman and the huntress interlocked in his mind's eye. For the next two strokes, he took the initiative, swinging from the left, then from the right, only to have both strikes blocked by the vastly superior skill of his opponent. Once again, he cut from the right side and was blocked, and finished the duel with an overhead strike. Like all the strikes that came before it, it was stopped by the imaginary blade of his opponent.

Jaune realized what was happening and dropped his fighting stance with a sigh as he started walking the perimeter of the campsite, well beyond the range of receiving any of its warmth. _I can't keep doing this. Reliving training sessions isn't going to help me._ It had started out innocently enough: Ruby had told them there were few grimm on Patch, and none of them were more powerful then standard beowolves. So, he figured there would be no harm to anyone if he spent his shift on watch practicing his swordplay. He didn't have to convince anyone that he needed the practice. Before long, he had been reliving old battles and sparring matches with her, acting out the duels as if she were standing in front of him. Finishing his circle around the perimeter of the campsite, the boy sheathed his sword into the folded shield on his side and headed back to the campsite, back into the light of the campfire.

The fire didn't make him feel any warmer.

Heading to the log where his backpack resided, Jaune sat down next to the dying fire and stared at it blankly for a while in silence. _What is there to say?_ With a long sigh, he looked towards his backpack, resting next to the log he was sitting on. After a moment of hesitation, he reached into the bag, digging all the way down into the bottom before his hands made contact with an icy cold circlet of metal.

 _Pyrrha._ The circlet was made of bronze- masterfully crafted and and finely made. The emerald, tear shaped jewels that hung on chains that had encircled the invincible redhead's ears softly glistened in the dying light of the fire, becoming dimmer every moment as the fire turned what was left of the wood into ash.

Jaune pulled out his cracked scroll from his pocket. Scrolls were not useful for communication anymore, but some of their functions worked independent of the CCT network. Thankfully, the somewhat damaged device still had all the photos Jaune had taken of his old team. He spent the next few moments browsing through the various images before finally stopping on the last image he had of her. Pyrrha Nikos, standing triumphantly with her sword raised up in the sky in victory at the end of the double's match in the Vytal Festival tournament.

He had gone for a month before looking at the old pictures, not wanting to ruin the memories he had of her. It had taken him that long to realize that slowly but surely, he was starting to forget what she looked like. As the world began to decay from Fall into Winter, his memories of her had begun to fade with it. He had clung to those photos like the leaves on a tree in the final days of Fall, trying to hold on to the last bit of life they had before Winter inevitably came.

Even still, there was one moment Jaune had shared with Pyrrha hat he knew would never leave his mind, no matter how many years would pass.

 _Whoever was on the microphone. They're the ones that did this._ He had told Pyrrha, believing in her then just as she had believed in him when he arrived at Beacon. _And we have to make sure they don't take anyone else._ He handed the champion her weapons, certain that she would not fall that day. That she would be the one that ensured that the rest of the people of Vale were safe. That they would protect one another through all that the world threw at them that night.

An hour later, she was gone, and he had been unable to do anything to save her.

* * *

 _The airship was completely silent. Everyone else had long since evacuated Beacon, and Jaune was one of the last people to leave. On the other side of the barren aircraft was an older man, holding an unconscious child in his arms. "You're alright Ruby... You're alright." If Jaune had bee paying attention to him at the moment, he would have noticed that the older man sounded more like he was trying to convince himself more than anything else. The worry in his eyes had been evident ever since Jaune had seen him come down from the top of Beacon tower with Ruby in his_ _arms. But Jaune hadn't noticed, having kept his head in his hands the entire flight, his elbows resting on his knees as he shed the last of his tears_

 _Jaune sat on the opposite side of the aircraft, facing the man on the bench across from him. Only the narrow hallway down to the cockpit separated him from the uncle and the niece._

 _It had been around half of an hour since Jaune had looked up at the CCT tower and seen a brilliant flash of light poor out from the top. It had nearly been blinding, even from as far away as he was. When he finally looked back up, the massive grimm wasn't moving any longer. Jaune had waited on the ground, completely speechless as_ _older man had finally run past him. The only reason Jaune followed was because he also saw him carrying a bronze circlet in his hands. He hadn't wanted to believe it, but he known what would happen the moment Pyrrha had launched him away._

 _Hearing some shifting from the bench across from him, Jaune pulled his head out of his hands and looked up to see the man shifting the unconscious girl away from him, resting the back of her head on his lap and letting her body lie down on the bench, "Get some rest, Rosebud. You've earned it.", the man said using what Jane could only assume was a nickname based on Ruby's surname. Tousling_ _the girl's hair one last time, the man looked up at the boy in front of him._

 _"So...you're Ruby's dad?" Jaune asked._

 _The man sighed softly and looked down before answering. "Nope. Just her uncle," he looked back up before continuing, "Qrow."_

 _"Oh." Jaune said softly as he gazed to the man's right side, down to the empty circlet he had rested on the bench next to him. Out of the corner of his tear stained eyes, he noticed that Qrow had followed his gaze._

 _"You loved her. Pyrrha." The uncle said, stating it as a fact rather than asking._

 _"How did..." Jaune began to ask._

 _"Lets just say I know how a fool in love with someone out of his league acts like.", he said. "I saw the two of you fight in the tournament. You reminded me of a couple of dumb kids I knew when I was at Beacon." With a melancholic sigh, Qrow picked up the Bronze circlet and handed it across the isle._ _"I've been in your shoes kid - more or less, anyways. Let me give you a bit of advice."_

 _Jaune didn't care what the man had to say._ That's not how Pyrrha and I were like. You didn't even know us. _He had thought. But more than anything else, he didn't feel like fighting about anything now. "Sure. Go ahead." He said, not caring a wit what the man actually had to say._

 _"Find something else that matters," He said while looking down at the unconscious form of Ruby Rose, "find out what it is, and soon. The longer you wait," the man said as he took out a whiskey flask, "the harder it becomes, and you'll only hurt whoever's left. " Qrow finished as took a swig from his flask._

 _The two of them didn't exchange another word during the entire flight._

 _It had been several weeks before Ruby contacted Jaune from her home's radio. She had told him that Qrow said that there might be a way for them to help stop Cinder and her allies if they went to Haven. She didn't have much information about it, but it had given Jaune something to do beyond mourning. He had set out to Patch with Ren and Nora the next day._

* * *

Jaune held onto the circlet, growing colder with every moment he spent out in the open. Jaune likely would have stayed frozen there for hours, lost in his thoughts, had it not been for the quiet beeping sound that came from his scroll. Placing the circlet down on the log beside him, Jaune checked his scroll. _1:00 AM. Time to get Ruby for her shift._ Jaune stood up and walked over to the tent Ruby shared with Nora on the opposite side of the camp.

Their tent was a bright orange color, contrasting the navy blue tent Jaune shared with Ren. The sound of Nora's snoring - something Jaune had grown quite accustomed to in his time at Beacon academy - was intermingled with the sound of some gentle rustling. Jaune hadn't even reached the tent when he heard Ruby whisper to him, "I'm coming. Give me a second, just trying not to wake up Nora."

Nora continued to snore, and let out a noise that sounded like the word, "pancakes." She had a tendency to mutter random things in her sleep, generally about things that went with syrup.

Jaune waited outside the tent for a few moments longer until Ruby finally emerged with a yawn. "Morning Jaune.", she whispered.

"Morning. See you in about six hours," Jaune said as he turned around and headed back over to his tent. With the thought of sleep on his mind, he became more acutely aware of how tired he was. _I'm going to need my rest, we've got a long day ahead of us tomorrow._

"Alright. See you then," Ruby said with a portion her usual enthusiasm, slightly muted due to the time of day. Jaune didn't respond as he headed over to his tent. Just as he was opening the flap, he heard some footsteps behind him and a sharp breath from Ruby. "Hey," she said softly a few moments later. Jaune stopped himself, tuning around with his his hand on his sword hilt, ready to defend the campsite from any grimm.

Instead, all he saw was Ruby standing silently a few steps away from her tent, her eyes locked on Pyrrha's circlet resting exactly where Jaune had left it moments ago.

Ruby spoke slowly, as if she wasn't entirely sure what she was going to say. "Can we... can we talk for a bit? I don't want to keep you up much longer, but -"

"No problem," Jaune said flatly, cutting her off as he went down to sit on the log where the bronze circlet rested.

"Alright. I'll be right back. Just want to get a few more branches for the fire. It's getting kinda low." Ruby said to make an excuse for herself. Jaune waited for her to go off into the woods before letting out a sigh as he pushed Pyrrha's circlet back into his backpack. He knew what to expect. He had dealt with plenty of people who had tried to comfort him about what had happened. _She's gonna say she's sorry for what happened to Pyrrha. I'm not going to tell her about every single emotional up and down since then and just brush off her concerns. Just like every other time I've had this conversation. We all need to focus on the task at hand, and I am not going to slow down my team by having them worry about me._

However, there would be something different about this conversation. Another weight he had to carry. _I can't tell her how I felt. How I blamed her for what happened. I was so childish for ever thinking... she doesn't deserve to hear that. Nothing good will come from that._

Jaune waited in the cold until Ruby came back to the campfire a few moments later, carefully placing some sticks and dry leaves on to the fire. Saving one of the larger branches for herself, Ruby sat down and started tending to the fire. Keeping her gaze focused on the fire, Ruby started to speak, "You know, I don't think I ever thanked you."

 _Huh?_ Jaune had not expected this. "Ruby, what are you talking about?"

Ruby continued poking at the fire, brightening the embers as she continued. "Back when we first arrived at Beacon, my plan was basically to glue myself to Yang and... well, yeah, that was it really." Looking up at Jaune, his leader went on, "If you hadn't helped me up in that courtyard, I don't think I would have made as many friends as I did back in Beacon. I don't think I would have known any of you guys, and I probably wouldn't have gotten along with Blake or Weiss that well either. So... yeah. Thank you Jaune. You're the one who broke me out of my shell, as Yang put it. Even though I didn't admit I had one at the time. " Ruby finished with a gentle smile on her face.

Jaune stayed quiet for a while longer before eventually responding. "Thanks Ruby. I..." Jaune trailed off for a moment before finishing his response. "You're welcome." The fire started to shed a little bit more light as some of the leaves.

Ruby's smile faded as she began to look back down at the campfire. "You helped me out from day one. Back when I was a stranger to you. I owe you..." Ruby hesitated for a moment before she continued. "I'm sorry-",

"Don't." Jaune said forcefully. Ruby looked a bit surprised at the mild outburst from her friend. "You don't have anything to apologize for. I know you did everything you could."

Ruby sighed as her entire body relaxed. The gentle smile returned to her face as she faced Jaune , "Well, I guess I've got something else to thank you for now. But that's not the only reason I wanted to talk to you. Jaune, you've been worrying me. I don't think you've said more than a dozen sentences since we left my house. It's a bit worrying."

"Ruby," He began, "have you ever been in a position where you were just about to get something you wanted - I'm not talking about little things. I'm talking about something that matters. "

The smile faded yet again. "Yeah. I think I know what you mean."

"I was with her, Ruby. Pyrrha and I were together for one, perfect moment. And then, just like that," Jaune tried to snap his fingers but failed, but continued anyways, "she was gone. Out of my life forever. Nothing I can do will ever bring that back. I keep going over that moment again and again, wondering if I had done something, anything differently, if Pyrrha would be here instead of-" _instead of you_ , he had almost said, catching himself. _You know Ruby doesn't deserve that._ "instead of sacrificing herself up on that tower."

For a time, huntsman and huntress were both silent. Ruby looked down at the fire, poking it with a stick. " _When true hearts lie withered_ ," Ruby said sadly, her voice sounding almost like a song, " _and fond ones have flown. Oh! who would inhabit this bleak world alone?_ " Ruby was quiet again, the only sound coming from the rekindled campfire.

 _That's the most depressing thing I've ever heard you say Ruby._ "Was that from a song or something?"

"It's the ending of a poem," Ruby said, continuing to tend the fire. "My mother liked it, which I thought was kinda weird. The poem doesn't exactly have any happy moments. I always wondered why my mom -she was always kind, sweet and caring- would like something so hopeless. But I think I get it now." Jaune was silent while he waited for Ruby to continue, "The poem's a warning. It shows what happens when we try to deal with everything on our own. Jaune, let us help you. We all know you're going through a lot. You don't need to 'inhabit this bleak world alone', and you aren't going to do any good if you try to. You have your friends. You have me."

Plenty of people had tried to convince him to take their help on this. Until now, he had viewed it as nothing more than a burden that he would be forcing on other people. _That really was dumb of me, wasn't it?_ For the first time in a while, Jaune allowed himself to smile. It wasn't much of one, but it was genuine. "There's a reason Ozpin made you a leader Ruby." Jaune stood up and began to head towards his tent. "I'm glad you're the one keeping all of us from falling apart on the way to Haven. I'll see you in the morning."

"Huh?" Jaune turned around to face Ruby, who now had a confused look on her face. "Wait, I'm keeping you all glued together? What do you mean?"

"Wait, you don't know?" Ruby just shook her head with a confused look on her face. "You're our leader. Ren, Nora, and I all agreed that would be for the best..." Jaune paused for a moment. "Did none of us tell you?"

"Uh, no. Wow. I did not expect this." Ruby said with a somewhat shocked look on her face. "Well then." She snapped out of whatever shock she had and looked over to Jaune with a smile. "As your fearless leader, I order you to get some sleep. Our team has a long road ahead of us tomorrow, and sleepy heads slowing us down will not be tolerated." Jaune nodded and headed back to his tent.

As Jaune headed to the place where he would sleep, he didn't feel quite as cold anymore.

* * *

 **AN: Sorry that this chapter was behind schedule. The next chapter is also probably going to take two weeks to finish as well. Again, thank you to everyone who left a review on my last chapter. Your feedback is always helpful, and I certainly took it into account when writing Ruby's dialogue in this chapter. As always, feedback and helpful criticism are encouraged. Special thanks to Texan Red Rose for helping me with editing and typos and whatnot.**

 **Hope you enjoyed!**


	4. Chapter 4: Legends and Heroes

**Lie Ren:**

Everything was black. The world was nothing but a endless void of night and dark, and had been for hours. However, there were still sounds echoing all around him. A forlorn sigh drifting through the night; a small whisper of hope, shared from one weary heart to another; a fire growing brighter and brighter as the darkness grew beside it; a familiar chaos, milling in the area around his tent.

Nothing could be felt except for earth and air. The soft ground below pressed upwards beneath him while the chilly winter air, ever so slightly warmed by the campfire, rested on him from above.

The world was at peace. It was not perfect, but the tranquility of the darkness around him was somewhat soothing. And for hours and hours, Lie Ren rested contently.

Suddenly, heralded by the sound of an opening tent flap, the lack of feeling was gone. He began to stir from his sleep as a small, smooth object placed itself upon the tip of his nose. Ren slowly opened his eyes as the weight on his nose slowly pushed down even further before finally releasing.

"Boop", a female voice said. Lie Ren opened his eyes to see a smiling Nora kneeling on the ground next to him, having somehow managed to sneak into his tent without waking Jaune or himself.

"Nora," Ren began to whisper as he slowly sat up, rubbing his eyes, "couldn't you just have knocked on the tent frame like we talked about?" By the time he had fully awoken, Nora was already gone. As quietly as he could manage, Ren pulled himself out of his own sleeping bag and dusted off his green jacket and white slacks while being careful not to disturb Jaune, who was sleeping in the bag beside his. Nora was waiting outside of the tent, only visible due to the light of the campfire. _The sun will be rising soon,_ Ren thought as he looked up at the sky.

"Goooood morning!" Nora called out in a quiet sing song voice as she gave a salute to Ren. Even though her voice was slightly diminished, her usual enthusiasm was as present as ever. "Nothing to report from my watch, so I'm off to get a few more hours of shut-eye. See you then!" With a smile on her face, she turned around and skipped over to the bright orange tent she shared with Ruby.

 _Some things never change, do they?_ Ren thought with a soft smile on his face as he headed back to his navy blue tent and pulled out his backpack. All these years, Nora had always been the one with a smile on her face, almost unbearably optimistic even in the most dire circumstances. Always willing to charge into battle to protect him. _What would I trade that for?_ Ren half seriously considered for a moment as he started heading back over towards the campfire.

 _Nothing._ The alternative to Nora's current personality was disheartening, and he had no desire to ever witness it again.

Ren sat down on the log next to the campfire as he looked around him. The moon had long since set, the only warmth and light he felt and saw came from the campfire before him. _Even the smallest of lights functions as a beacon when surrounded by nothing but darkness. This fire will be more than adequate to detect any incoming grimm before the sun rises, and I shouldn't have to add much dust to it in order to make_ _breakfast_. Ren had volunteered to take the last watch, suggesting that he might as well combine the roll of breakfast maker with whomever would be up the earliest anyways. _Much more efficient that way._

Ren got up from the log with a stretch before setting an alarm on his scroll for 6:45 AM. _Fifteen minutes should be more than enough time to make breakfast for everyone._ With this final duty taken care of Ren began to make his rounds.

It was almost impossible to see anything at first. Ren had always hated that about nighttime, how difficult it was to see things clearly. But slowly and surely, the sun began to rise and everything became clearer. After an nice and tranquil hour and forty-five minutes of walking in circles around the camp, the sun was completely over the horizon, and his alarm was beeping softly in his pocket.

 _Time for breakfast._ As Ren walked back to his bag resting near the fire, he was surprised to hear the telltale sound of the default scroll alarm go off again. _I know I didn't set two alarms..._ Even as Ren checked his own scroll, the alarm stopped on its own. _Maybe someone else decided to wake up early. I'll find out soon enough._ Ren pulled the well packed tube of red dust out of his backpack while sitting back down on the log.

 _Now... just a tiny sprinkling..._ Ren thought to himself as he opened the dispenser at the top of the tube and carefully sprinkled some dust over the fire. With a wave of his hand, whatever brilliance the fire had lost over the course of his watch restored itself. Ren resealed the tube and placed it back into his backpack. Pulling the large, fold-able pan out from his bag, Ren noticed a figure dressed in black emerge from the bright orange tent across from where he sat.

"Good morning Ren." Ren looked up and saw Ruby Rose standing on the other side of the fire from him with a smile on her face.

"And to you as well." Ren said with a nod as he placed the pan on the fire. "What brings you up at this hour?"

"Oh, nothing much," Ruby said as she tried to force her words through a yawn. When the yawn had finally ended, she continued. "Just wanted to have more time to come up with our plan for today."

 _Right..._ Ren remembered. _Ruby is our leader now. Jaune was adamant about that._ Ren merely nodded at Ruby's words as he pulled the bottle of pancake batter out of his pack.

"Soooo..." Ruby trailed off as she awkwardly stood on the other side of the fire. "Do you have a map I could borrow? I assume you used one to get to my house once you got to Patch."

Ren placed the bottle on the ground next to his bag as he rifled through his pack, finally pulling out the folded up map of the island. By the time he looked up, Ruby was standing next to him. "Here you are." He said.

"Thank you." Ruby replied as she took the map and walked over towards the nearest log, sitting down on it and beginning to look over the map.

Ren watched the girl in red and black look over the map for a few moments. Ren did not doubt that Ruby had the capacity to be a good leader- quite the opposite in fact. Her actions during the first grimm invasion proved that beyond a shadow of a doubt. With all of that said, Ren couldn't say he was happy about the change. _There is something to be said to sticking with the original way of doing things. Jaune might have had his faults, but he was an effective commander. And most importantly, Nora and I are used to him. Is this really the time to change leaders? When so much is at stake?_

Ren kept his concerns to himself as he watched the pan heat up in the fire. At this point the sun was positioned just behind Ruby, allowing her shadow to stretch over the entire campsite.

"Alright", Ruby spoke into the map, "assuming the main pathway is clear and nothing goes wrong, we should be able to reach Stitch by nightfall." Ren knew that Ruby was referencing the coastal town on patch, the same town that he had arrived in with Nora and Jaune after they had gotten off the boat from Vale.

"And if something does go wrong?" Ren found himself wondering aloud, his voice carrying a somewhat harsh tone to it. Ruby, however, didn't even seem to notice the outburst- or if she did, Ren couldn't discern her reaction from behind the map.

"Working on it." Ruby replied. Satisfied with the response, Ren began poring the pancake mix into the tray, causing the smell of pancakes to drift throughout the campsite. Ren continued working on the pancakes for several minutes until Ruby finally put the map down. "Hey Ren, can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Well, you know I can fight really well with Crescent Rose, but I'm not exactly great without it. In fact, it's really embarrassing. I'm complete garbage with my fists." Ruby nervously laughed at her own comment as Ren watched her. "But you know how to fight with your hands really well! I've seen you do it. So, since we'll be spending a bunch of time together, I was wondering if you could take some time to teach me a thing or two." Ruby sat on the log with a gentle smile on her face, waiting for the response.

"That seems logical." Ren replied. _Well, at least she's open to admitting that she isn't perfect. That's good. I didn't expect anything else, but it's still good to know for sure._

The campsite was quiet for several more moments before Ruby spoke again. "Could we start now? 'A watched cookie never bakes', as my mother used to say. I guess the same principle applies to pancakes, right?" She asked, sounding rather unsure of herself.

After considering the prospect for a moment, Ren nodded. "Very well then." _I can leave the pancakes alone for a few moments._ While Ren flipped each pancake one last time, Ruby stood up from her log and waited for him to do the same. Standing up with a nod of his head, he gestured for Ruby to follow him.

Ren lead the girl away from the campfire and the other two tents, finding a place where each of them had enough room to maneuver. "The first thing that you need to know", Ren began to instruct, "is that you aren't going to be able to take very many hits. Secondly, if you are without your scythe, it is highly probable that you are in a disadvantageous situation already, and likely that you are low on Aura, if not out completely."

"Yeah. That makes sense." Ruby replied. The two of them now faced each other, standing about ten paces apart. The rising sun was on his right side and Ruby's left, their shadows stretching into places he couldn't even see.

"With this in mind, it would only be prudent for you to focus on avoiding attacks first, as an aggressive strategy in this scenario could likely backfire with catastrophic results."

"Well, I always have my speed. That should help keep me away from attacks, right?"

Ren nodded at Ruby's reply. "Yes. That leads me to my second point. Your primary goal in hand to hand combat is to tire out your opponent until they make a mistake. Until then, remain passive and patient. An opportunity to strike will eventually present itself. Now once you finally have the opportunity to attack, you... Ruby?"

Ren realized that Ruby's attention had begun to be focused elsewhere, and heard her nostrils sniffing. "Oh no, the pancakes!", the young girl cried out as she activated her semblance in a flurry of rose petals and zoomed over to the campfire. Ren followed her back to his cooking station only to hear her disappointment. "Aw... some of them are burnt. I guess those ones are mine since I'm the one that gave you the bad advice to not watch them."

Ren pulled the spatula out of his pack and began flipping the pancakes again. "Seems fair. Although I was the one who took up your offer. The responsibility is at least shared."

"Yeah, but I'm the one that made the offer. My fault, my burnt pancakes," his leader insisted.

Ren heard some noise over from the bright orange tent on the other side of the clearing. "Did someone say pancakes?" Nora's voice cut through the peaceful morning like a knife through butter. A few moments later, Nora emerged from the tent wide awake.

"Morning Nora!" Ruby said happily. Nora's only response was to rush over to Ren's backpack and pull out a plate.

"Alright Ren. You know the drill. Stop when I say 'when'."

"Unless you want burned pancakes, you'll have to wait. I haven't put yours on yet." Nora, as usual, was distracted, seeming to stare up at the tree branches. "Nora?"

"Oh! Yeah, I'll wait." She responded with a nod, even though she was still looking up at the sky.

Ren began lifting off the burned pancakes and placing them on the plate Ruby had readied. "Thanks Ren. I hope these are as good as Nora says they are."

"Oh, no need to worry about that!" Nora said with a huge grin on her face. as Ren poured more pancake batter on to the pan.

Ruby sat down on one of the logs, her shadow once again stretching over the campsite. A few moments later Jaune emerged out of the tent, looking more well rested than Ren had seen him be in quite some time. "Morning everyone!"

"Morning Jaune! Did you get a good night's sleep?" Ruby said enthusiastically.

Jaune nodded as he yawned. "Yep." he finally managed to say once he finished his yawn. "I am starving though. Thanks for making breakfast Ren."

"No problem." Ren said as he continued flipping pancakes. "Yours are ready now." He told the girl he had known for years. Nora held out her plate as Ren dropped pancake after pancake on it, waiting for Nora to indicate for him to stop. After the fifth pancake, Ren stopped. "When."

"But Ren..." Nora started to plead with him.

"Nora, that's plenty of pancakes. You'll be fine."

Nora let out a slightly dejected, "Okay", before heading over to the log on the other side of the campfire and eating.

Before long, all four of them were enjoying breakfast while sitting around the campfire, it's light fading as the sun rose higher and higher in the sky. Once all of them had finished and packed up their equipment, Ruby addressed them, "Alright, if everything goes according to plan, we should be able to reach Stitch by the evening. Tonight, we'll sleep under a roof. The next morning, we begin our search for a boat. Stitch is the largest port town on the island, so it shouldn't be too much of a problem to find one heading towards Mistral. Everyone ready?"

Ren merely nodded his head in assent as his teammates verbally agreed. With that, the four of them set out.

By this point, the sun was up, giving them more than enough visibility to make out whatever could bee seen in the forest. Beyond the occasional bird, the forest was largely barren and still. Ren would have preferred it if the landscape had a bit more color to it, but it was peaceful enough.

Ruby lead the three of them, her hood was up and she carried her weapon in its sniper rifle form. Ren walked beside Nora, while Jaune walked just behind their leader. The forest was far enough away from the path that the sun clearly shined down on them- at least for now. There were some dark clouds in the sky that Ren could only assume would lead to a blizzard. _If only we had a way of getting forecasts outside of the CTT network. We're on our own out here._

"Who wants to hear a story?" Nora said seemingly at random, her voice full of energy. "We might as well do something to pass the time, right?"

"I guess it would be nice." Jaune chimed in.

Ruby turned her head back for a moment to face Nora, "What story did you have in mind?"

"Well let's see. There's..." Nora began to trail off before giving up. "Oh I don't know. What do you guys wanna hear?"

 _The silence was nice. But, if a story must be told..._ "Well, we are heading to Mistral. It could be beneficial for us to go over some of their history and culture".

"What about the legend about how Mistral was founded?" Ruby said, continuing to lead the group. "I always liked that one as a kid."

Nora seemed to like that suggestion."Ohhhh! I know that one!" Ren didn't even have to look over to his closest friend to tell she had a grin on her face. Nora coughed to clear her voice purely for dramatic effect before starting her epic tale. "Ages and ages ago, every man, woman, and child on Remnant lived in an eternity of war. Not only did the fearsome grimm prey upon us, but mankind was scattered into small tribes that did nothing but fight among each other for the tiniest scraps of food and land. "

"That's a bit of an exaggeration. " Ren chimed in. "Conditions were terrible, but not quite that terrible. And mostly in the area around present-day Mistral. The rest of the globe was generally better off."

Nora continued in her typically bombastic tone of voice. "But not all hope was lost! One day, thousands of years ago, Trajan single highhandedly united the 76 tribes of the eastern continent under his control!"

 _What?_ "Nora, there weren't even that many tribes-"

Ren was cut off as Nora continued. "All that opposed him and his rightful reign were struck down by beams of light that he could shoot out of his eyes!"

Ren heard a soft chuckle come out of Jaune. _She isn't getting anything right._ "Nora."

"Yes Ren?" Nora turned to face Ren with wide, enthusiastic eyes.

"Would you mind letting me tell the story?"

At his suggestion, Nora's mouth slowly turned upwards into a large smile. "That sounds great!", she said enthusiastically. " I love the way you tell stories! You'll love this guys. Take it away Ren!" With an elaborate gesture towards Ren, Nora finished speaking and patiently waited for him to begin.

 _Really? When was the last time I told a story? Why would she-_ Ren's eyes widened as his mind stumbled upon some unbidden memories, upon a story he never wanted to tell. A story of memories best left forgotten.

"Alright." He said simply, forcing himself to maintain a calm demeanor. "No problem." Ren inhaled slowly, followed by an exhale to settle his nerves before beginning the tale.

"Thousands of years ago, the lands around modern day Mistral were populated by several nomadic tribes of various size. These tribes mostly survived by following herds of animals and hunting them, along with gathering edible plants. It is speculated that some settlements existed before Mistral, but they suffered frequent grimm attacks and never lasted for long. People thought that this nomadic way of life kept them safer. However, modern analysis has concluded that the settlements founded before Mistral largely failed because they lacked dust, and the only reasons the tribes survived for as long as they did was because of it. These tribes fought against each other vigorously; the stronger tribes used force to take whatever they needed - or wanted- including, food, weapons, and even slaves."

"It was in one of these tribes- the tribe of Empyrius- that Trajan was born. The tribe thought that he was destined to lead the tribe to great victories over the other tribes in the region, to take and steal whatever he desired. For among this tribe, individuals born with silver eyes were considered destined to become the greatest of warriors."

Ruby turned her head to the side before interrupting Ren, "Wait, huh? I don't remember that part. I was told that Trajan was just a skilled warrior who took control over the tribe when the previous leader died."

Ren shrugged before giving a response, "I'm only going with the version I was told when I was young. It's likely your version is more historically accurate- in as much as this tale is accurate at all." Ruby turned back around as Ren continued the story, "In any case, Trajan was trained to lead the tribe from a young age- both in battle and in keeping order among the tribe."

"Not that there was much of a difference between those two things." Jaune chimed in.

"True. But Trajan didn't like how the tribe was being run. People, even family members viewed each other as nothing more than tools to exploit and use until they were no longer useful, lying, stealing, and cheating everyone else for personal gain. Trajan came to the realization that even if the Empyrians conquered every other tribe on the continent, it would only be a matter of time before they tore themselves apart.

"So, Trajan made some changes. Once he started ruling, he didn't use his power to take whatever he wanted from the tribe. Instead, he used it to ensure that everyone had what they deserved. He instructed the troops under his command to prevent theft and swindling among the tribe, which had been fairly commonplace until that point. While he had tried to steer the tribe away from battles, other tribes began growing envious of the prosperity of the Empyrians. On the eve of an inevitable battle he came to a rather simple realization: why not work with the other tribes? If they stopped trying to rob and harm each other for their own benefit, and worked together, they'd all become stronger. Although it was a daunting task, he eventually managed to unite several of the surrounding tribes."

Jaune interjected once again. "I've always wondered how he managed to do that. That always seemed like the least believable part of the story."

"Well, in as much as the story is true, there is a good chance he forced some tribes into joining him early on- which to be fair was much better than the lot of most defeated tribes in those time. It's also possible some people were scared of him, thinking that his silver eyes meant he could defeat their entire tribe single highhandedly. Some of the stories about those people border on the absurd- maybe those people actually believed them."

"Hmm. I guess that makes sense." Jaune replied. Ren looked around to see if their would be any more comments. Ruby was still walking forward, although her head seemed to be tilted towards the ground as if she was lost in thought, not really paying attention to her own surroundings.

Nora, on the other hand, was a different matter entirely. One look at her face made it clear that she was clinging on to every word he spoke. "Go on." She encouraged him, her eyes wide with anticipation and a smile on her face.

Ren obliged her. "Over time, the Empyrans, the Arteans, the Hectrites, and the Tianti were gathered into one large tribe. Considering how large the tribe had become, Trajan selected someone from each of the tribes that he had assimilated that both shared his ideals and had a talent for ruling. In the end, he selected Sofros, Genna, and Metrath from the Arteans, Hectrites, and Tianti tribes respectively. These four humans worked together for many years, and eventually led their people to the land upon which modern day Mistral sits."

Nora interrupted him. "What I don't understand is why they decided to call it Mistral. The name should have been something that meshed their tribes' names together. Emarthecti? Tihecartem?"

Ren shrugged at her before continuing the story. "Even though Trajan had managed to unite several tribes and showed them a better way of living, there were still many tribes that stuck to the old way of doing things. The Frantacs had been the largest tribe in the area for some time, and eventually decided to take the newly made city of Mistral for themselves."

"While the walls of Mistral were poorly made by modern standards, they were an incredible feat of engineering at the time. The leader of the Frantacs, Mengeni, hoped to use the walls designed to keep out Grimm to starve the people inside the city. However, Sofros had foreseen the probability of war years before it began. And so, with Sofros's help, Trajan managed to build up a stockpile of food and supplies in the event that the Frantacs or some other tribe tried to lay siege to Mistral. Once the siege began, Metrath was put in charge of making sure that everyone got the amount of food they needed to survive. On top of that, he devised some methods of producing limited amounts of food within the walls of the city itself. Not enough to permanently sustain them, but enough to ensure that everyone had enough food- and no more than enough food- throughout the siege. "

Ren was about to continue before a snowflake landed on his face. Looking up at the sky, Ren noticed that the clouds had now covered up the sun. _Maybe this journey will be a little more perilous than we_ _thought_. Ren ignored the cold as he continued retelling the story. "Before long, the Frantacs began to fall into disarray. While they intended to starve out their foes inside the city, they never even planned for the possibility that Mistral would last longer then they would. When the Fantac's order began to crumble due to infighting, Genna led most of the city's army out of the city in the dead of night, with the intent on capturing the leader of the enemy tribe and forcing him to surrender. The most exaggerated legends say that the people of Mistral were outnumbered five to one, but in reality they were likely only out numbered three to one. Either way, the soldiers of Mistral knew how dangerous the fight could be, but also knew that the survival of their city depended on it. After all, the food they grew inside their walls wouldn't sustain them forever. "

"Luckily for them- and all of us, actually- the battle was decisive, and lead to the victory of Mistral over the Frantacs. Sadly, Trajan's brother, Hadrian, was killed in the fight, sacrificing himself to save the lives of his fellow soldiers. Genna brought the news of his brother's death to Trajan, along with Mengeni, now in chains, to Trajan. Everyone expected that Trajan would kill Mengeni on the spot out of retribution for his brother's death. And by all accounts, Trajan wanted to."

Ren paused for a moment, wondering the best way to phrase what happened next. _Sometimes, the simplest option is the most optimal._

"But he didn't."

Ren watched as Ruby lifted up her head, as if that latest bit of information had broken her chain of thought. "In one of the few details about the story that is consistent in every variation, Trajan lifted up his sword to strike Mengeni down- then cast it to his side. Afterwards, most translations agree that he said the following-, 'Killing you and your people will not bring my brother back. Make no mistake, you will be punished for your assault of my kingdom, but I will not spill any more blood needlessly today.' "

"Trajan's mercy stunned everyone at the time, Mistralian and Frantacish alike. Nobody had ever witnessed anything like it. Even from Trajan himself. The action was so shocking that most accounts agree that Mengeni swore allegiance to Trajan on the spot, and instructed his entire tribe to do the same. Not everyone took the offer, but enough did. Mistral nearly doubled in size overnight. Tensions between the two groups were high for quite some time, even through the end of Trajan's life. But eventually, the feuds died down, and people came to some sort of forgiveness."

"And they lived in joy forever!" Nora concluded with enthusiasm. Everything around the four heroes was slowly becoming grayer, with the snow falling faster and faster and the clouds blotting out the blue sky.

With the tale finished, the four heroes remained silent for a time. _The four leaders seem to parallel the four of us in some ways. Interesting._ Ren looked down at Nora, in time to see the broad smile on her face.

"I don't think I have it in me to do that. What Trajan did, I mean." Jaune said. By this point, Jaune had drifted beside Ren, while Nora had been all but glued to his side throughout the duration of the story.

"Well that's why we have leaders who do!" Nora chimed in.

Ruby leader walked in front of them, her head held high as she walked through the snow, her red cape billowing in the wind behind her.

 _I suppose Jaune knew what he was talking about when he said Ruby should lead_ us.

If anyone else had an opinion on the matter, they were silent. The only noise came from the sounds of their boots on the slowly accumulating snow.

And everything around them grew colder.

* * *

 **AN: Alright, I've got some things to clear up and acknowledgements to make.**

 **First of all, I'm sorry this chapter took longer than usual. Schoolwork has to be my priority, and it's not going to get much lighter as the semester continues. The good news is that by mid May, I'll have a whole lot of time on my hands to devote to this fic. The upshot, of course, is that this chapter itself is on the long side!**

 **That being said... I've got over 30 pages of essays to write before the end of my current semester. Sadly, I will not be able to update this fanfiction until then.**

 **The other news is that the first chapter is going to be revised. I'm not going to be changing anything that happened, just some of my narration and some bit's of Ruby's dialogue, so you don't have to re-read it if you don't want to (although I recommend that you do.) This WILL come out before then, so you can look out for that in the next few weeks.**

 **More on the good side of things- I am working on an entry for /r/RWBY's moncon. Hopefully, I will be finished with it by Wednesday. That will likely be the last full chapter of something for a while though.**

 **Now, for acknowledgments. I got the idea of Ruby learning to fight from Ren from a piece of fan art called "Time Skip Ruby" by Gallrith on Deviantart. Thanks for giving me permission to use that concept (which I will definitely expand upon in future chapters)! Furthermore, I'd like to thank my official editor Mewtwo15026, TheH8fulM8s (who you can thank for giving me the idea to use a cliff hanger (in as much as this can count as a cliff hanger)), and Texan Red Rose, along with everyone else who's helped me along the way for helping to bring me to this point.**

 **Also, I have to give a shout out to The Layman for giving me a shout out in his fanfiction. His own story, "Distorted Mirror Images" is pretty good, and you should check it out.**

 **On that note, the overarching character themes I've been trying to go for over the course of this story should be a little clearer now. Feel free to take guesses in the reviews section or PM about that! I'm always happy to discuss my writing!**

 **Finally, I was want to thank everyone who bothered to follow or favorite so far. I never expected this fic to get so popular so quickly. Thank you for your ongoing support!**

 **As always, feedback is welcomed and encouraged! Thanks for taking the time to read!**


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